Boat.



H. WEBER.

BOAT.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26. 1916.

Patented Spt. 25, 1917.

A T TOIPNE Y HENRY WEBER, OF LANGLEY, WASHINGTON.

BOAT.

Application filed June 26, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WVEBER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Langley, in the county of King and State of ashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boats, of which the following is a full, true, and exact specification.

My invention relates to improvements in boats and has for its principal object to provide an improved and novel form of boat construction in which the body of the boat does not touch the surface of the water; to provide a boat of this general type in which the flotation is accomplished by means of impounded and submerged air confined in a propelling wheel; to provide a plurality of floating wheels which are connected in such a way as to equalize the stability of the boat by allowing the impounded air to pass from one wheel to another.

Other objects will appear as my invention is more fully explained in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanying'drawings and pointedout in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure -1 is a plan view of my device shown attached to a fragment of a boat. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of same. F 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a wheel hub and air passages.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, numeral 1 indicates a fragment of a boat to the underside of which is secured a stationary hollow shaft 2. Shaft 2 runs clear across the boat and is provided with slots 3 at each end. A paddle wheel is mounted loosely upon each end of the shaft 2 and includes paddles 4 which are secured to a hub 5. The paddles 4 are housed at the sides as at 6 so that the spaces between the paddles are inclosed except for the periphcry of the wheel. Hubs 5 are ported as at 7 between each pair of paddles, the ports 7 being arranged so as to register with port 3 at the under side of the shaft 2. When the ports 7 and 3 are in register at both ends Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Serial No. 105,789.

of the shaft 2 the spaces between the lower paddles of the wheels are communicating through the hollow shaft 2. The paddle wheels are caused to revolve by means of any form of engine mechanism (not shown). As the paddle wheels revolve they drive the boat ahead and at the same time float it by means of the buoyancy of the air inclosed in the paddles which are submerged. This will be more fully understood from the location of the water lines on the drawings. The equalizing feature of piyldevice tends to keep the boat on an even lVhile I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that many minor changes therein will read ily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and I therefore desire to avoid being limited to the exact form shown and described.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described which includes a pair of housed paddle wheels, hollow hubs upon which the said wheels are secured, a hollow shaft upon which said hubs are revolubly mounted, the combination of ports in the hubs of the said wheels between each pair of paddles, other ports in the underside of the shaft and adapted to register with each of the said ports in the hubs in turn as the wheel revolves on the shafts, whereby air which is inclosed between the said paddles is equalized in both wheels by virtue of their communication.

2. In a housed paddle wheel which includes a hollow hub revolubly mounted on a hollow and stationary shaft, the combination of radial ports in said hub between each pair of adjacent paddles, another port in the said shaft and adapted to register in turn with each of the ports in said hub.

HENRY WEBER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

